Description

Three primary elements characterized feudalism: lords, vassals and fiefs; the structure of feudalism can be seen in how these three elements fit together. A lord was a noble who owned land, a vassal was a person who was granted land by the lord, and the land was known as a fief. In exchange for the fief, the vassal would provide military service to the lord. The obligations and relations between lord, vassal and fief form the basis of feudalism. Before a lord could grant land (a fief) to someone, he had to make that person a vassal. This was done at a formal and symbolic ceremony called a commendation ceremony comprised of the two-part act of homage and oath of fealty. During homage, the vassal would promise to fight for the lord at his command. Fealty comes from the Latin fidelitas, or faithfulness; the oath of fealty is thus a promise that the vassal will be faithful to the lord. Once the commendation was complete, the lord and vassal were now in a feudal relationship with agreed-upon mutual obligations to one another.

The lord's principal obligation was to grant a fief, or its revenues, to the vassal; the fief is the primary reason the vassal chose to enter into the relationship. In addition, the lord sometimes had to fulfill other obligations to the vassal and fief. One of those obligations was its maintenance. Since the lord had not given the land away, only loaned it, it was still the lord's responsibility to maintain the land, while the vassal had the right to collect revenues generated from it. Another obligation that the lord had to fulfill was to protect the land and the vassal from harm.

The vassal's principal obligation to the lord was to provide "aid", or military service. Using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain by virtue of the revenues from the fief, the vassal was responsible to answer to calls to military service on behalf of the lord. This security of military help was the primary reason the lord entered into the feudal relationship. In addition, the vassal sometimes had to fulfill other obligations to the lord. One of those obligations was to provide the lord with "counsel", so that if the lord faced a major decision, such as whether or not to go to war, he would summon all his vassals and hold a council. The vassal may have been required to provide a certain amount of his farm's yield to his lord. The vassal was also sometimes required to grind his wheat and bake his bread in the ovens owned and taxed by his lord.

The land-holding relationships of feudalism revolved around the fief. Depending on the power of the granting lord, grants could range in size from a small farm to a much larger area of land. The size of fiefs was described in irregular terms quite different from modern area terms; see medieval land terms. The lord-vassal relationship was not restricted to members of the laity; bishops and abbots, for example, were also capable of acting as lords.

There were thus different 'levels' of lordship and vassaldom. The King was a lord who loaned fiefs to aristocrats, who were his vassals. Meanwhile the aristocrats were in turn lords to their own vassals, the peasants who worked on their land.

Grading System

Every item in our inventory has been inspected, very strictly graded, and bagged for its protection.

SW

Shrink Wrapped. Still in the original factory shrink wrap, with condition visible through shrink noted. For example, "SW (NM)" means shrink wrapped in near-mint condition.

Mint

Perfect. Brand new.

NM

Near Mint. Like new with only the slightest wear, many times indistinguishable from a Mint item. Close to perfect, very collectible.
Board games in this condition may be played but show little to no wear.

EX

Excellent. Lightly used, but almost like new. May show very small spine creases or slight corner wear. Absolutely no tears and no marks, a collectible condition.

VG

VG Very Good. Used. May have medium sized creases, scuff marks, very small stain, etc. Complete and very useable.

Fair

Very well used, but complete and useable. May have flaws such as tears, pen marks or highlighting, large creases, stains, marks, a loose map, etc.

Poor

Extremely well used and has major flaws, which may be too numerous to mention. Item is complete unless noted.

Boxed items are listed as "code/code" where the first code represents the box, and the second code describes the contents. When only one condition is listed, then the box and contents are in the same condition.

A "plus" sign indicates that an item is close to the next highest condition. Example, EX+ is an item between Excellent and Near Mint condition. A "minus" sign indicates the opposite.

Major defects and/or missing components are noted separately.

Boardgame counters are punched, unless noted. Due to the nature of loose counters, if a game is unplayable it may be returned for a refund of the purchase price.

In most cases, boxed games and box sets do not come with dice.

The cardboard backing of miniature packs is not graded. If excessively worn, they will be marked as "card worn."

Flat trays for SPI games are not graded, and have the usual problems. If excessively worn, they will be marked as "tray worn."